"Bring it on," Hoyer texted about the competition ahead, according to his GM.

"I don't think you can hand jobs to people when they come in," Pettine said. "It's a situation where, despite what's around him and what's following him and there will be that pressure to play him, we're in the business of evaluating who will be the best quarterback for the Cleveland Browns to win football games and that's who's going to play, whether that's Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel."

This should feel familiar to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who prepared Robert Griffin III to start as a rookie two seasons ago in Washington. On the other side of the country, in Washington State, Russell Wilson played all 16 games his first season, as did Andrew Luck in Indy.